Buckley was brought up around music. His mother was a classically trained pianist and cellist. His stepfather introduced him to Led Zeppelin, Queen, Jimi Hendrix, the Who, and Pink Floyd at an early age.

Buckley grew up singing around the house and in harmony with his mother, later noting that all his family sang. He began playing guitar at the age of five after discovering an acoustic guitar in his grandmother’s closet.

In mid-1993, Buckley began working on his first album, “Grace”.

Bob Dylan named Buckley “one of the great songwriters of this decade,” and, in an interview with The Village Voice, David Bowie named Grace as one of 10 albums he’d bring with him to a desert island.

On May 29, 1997, while awaiting the arrival of his band from New York, he drowned during a spontaneous evening swim, fully clothed, in the Mississippi River when he was caught in the wake of a passing boat; his body was found on June 4.

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59 thoughts on “Hallelujah – 30 Days 30 Songs”

I have loved this song since the first time I heard it…at church, actually. This is a beautiful version, and it is so sad to think that a man who was so talented died so young. Thank you for sharing this!

Oh, I didn’t know that about Cohen’s album! How awful to think that it almost didn’t make it! Shows that those in charge so often don’t know what they’re doing, be it the music or film industry, and more troubling yet politics.

Another geeky factoid about this song is that Cohen wrote around 80 draft verses for it before choosing the ones to record. When John Cale recorded his version he asked Cohen for some of the unpublished verses and was allowed to use them.

You already know how much I like this song and Buckley’s voice. I am also a huge fan of Leonard Cohen. Love both versions. You must be exhausted. I know it takes quite some time to find the songs, do the research and write the posts. Sending you good vibes dear friend.

Thanks, dear friend! I know, you do. Leonard Cohen was one of the best!
Yes, I really do feel a bit exhausted, but it’s still fun. Actually finished writing and scheduling the rest of the songs this morning – now I can start playing catching up with everyone! 😀 Have a beautiful weekend!

I have my second playlist ready for your Challenge too. It’s already on Spotify but will wait until Darren publish his first. We have some songs and artists in common. Looking forward to listen to your other songs. Enjoy your weekend my friend.

This is such a beautiful song, and this version is especially poignant knowing Jeff Buckley’s history.
Have you heard k.d. Lang sing Hallelujah? For me, there is no one better. She doesn’t perform, she lives this music. Leonard Cohen was a master song writer who captured the human condition in his lyrics. His words are enduring. And this song brings me to my knees.

This is definitely top 5 for me too. I even learned to play it (badly) on guitar. Of all the versions, Jeff Buckley I think has captured Leonard Cohen’s beautiful lyrics the best. I even prefer the cover to any of the versions I heard Cohen sing. So, so lovely.
I’ve sneaked in a bonus track today (well I did miss a couple of days at the beginning of the month). 🙂 https://zimmerbitch.wordpress.com/2019/06/20/our-castle-and-our-keep/

It’s an amazing song, isn’t it? And as much as I love the Cohen one too, Buckley somehow makes it work for me even better.
So cool about the bonus track! I was thinking I need to add at least 3 or 4 to each song as well, just to cover all the bases! LOL! 😀 Going to catch up soon! xxx

I think Jeff Buckley had an ethereal quality to his voice that works beautifully with the song.
I’m getting slightly panicked that the end of the month is approaching and there are still so many songs I want to include. And T suggested a whole bunch more last night 😬

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